TODAY IN HISTORY: Columbia River Treaty
In 1773, Capt. James Cook’s ship, “Resolution,” was the first ship to cross the Antarctic Circle.
In 1821, a Mexican land grant to Moses Austin opened the American colonization of what is now Texas.
In 1871, Andrew S. Hallidie received a patent for a cable-car system that began service in San Francisco in 1873.
In 1874, the original Siamese twins, Chang and Eng Bunker, died at age 63.
In 1876, the Supreme Court of Canada sat for the first time.
In 1893, Hawaii’s monarchy was overthrown as a group of white businessmen and sugar planters forced Queen Liliuokalani to abdicate.
In 1929, the “Popeye the Sailor” comic strip first appeared.
In 1945, Soviet and Polish forces liberated Warsaw during the Second World War.
In 1945, Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazis, disappeared in Hungary while in Soviet custody. Moscow authorities admitted years later that he died in custody, but the circumstances remain a mystery.
In 1961, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Columbia River Treaty in Washington. In return for building three dams (Duncan, Keenleyside and Mica) on the Columbia, Canada received half of the electricity generated and money for half of the flood protection the U.S. would receive over the life of the 60-year treaty.
In 1973, Ferdinand Marcos declared himself Philippine president for life. He fled the country in February 1986 after “winning” a rigged election that eventually saw Corazon Aquino sworn in as president.
In 1977, murderer Gary Gilmore got his wish and was executed by firing squad at a Utah prison. In 1994, two former child stars — Donny Osmond and Danny Bonaduce of “The Partridge Family” — slugged it out in a threeround charity boxing match in Chicago. The winner was Bonaduce, who bloodied Osmond’s nose in the 2-1 decision. In 2002, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell announced sweeping cuts to the province’s public sector, eliminating as many as 11,700 jobs by 2005.